What a difference five years makes. Ben Affleck has gone from a talk show punchline to being one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood (Warner Bros. has pretty much offered all of their major projects to him). Next month sees the release of his third directorial outing — with himself as the lead for the second time — with the highly buzzed “Argo,” and the studio has released a set of character posters and a new still for the film.
Hoping to repeat the box office success of 2010’s “The Town,” Warner Bros. hasn’t been shy about letting everyone know about Affleck’s take on the real-life story of the CIA’s attempt to save American hostages from Iran under the guise of a film production. With a little more than two weeks to go, three new character posters have been released, focusing on Affleck as Tony Mendez, Alan Arkin as producer Lester Siegel, and John Goodman as famous make-up artist John Chambers.
Check out the character posters, along with a still of Affleck and Bryan Cranston in a CIA meeting. “Argo” opens wide on October 12th. [Recent Movie Posters/Films]
I'm looking forward to this as entertainment and American self-congratulations, but am curious how much of the Canadian connection remains in the telling. The Canadian embassy (and then-ambassador Ken Taylor) played an enormous role in the freeing of the six American hostages. Ben Affleck was at least very classy when criticized about the lack of Canadian focus and changed the postscipt to more clearly recognize the Canadians' involvement. He even invited Ken Taylor to a screening after the change.
Those posters are shit, but I can't wait for this movie.